


expressions and the like

by Metal_Snakes



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)
Genre: Also this is just tender stuff, Casual Intimacy, I guess their relationship can be read as both ways, M/M, Slow Dancing, i just believe zack is very casually intimate, same with genesis, sephiroth and his odd habits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25238275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Snakes/pseuds/Metal_Snakes
Summary: Sephiroth doesn't mimic, but he does watch.
Relationships: Zack Fair & Sephiroth, Zack Fair/Sephiroth
Comments: 3
Kudos: 60





	expressions and the like

**Author's Note:**

> hiiii zack/seph nation how we feelin
> 
> anyways have this fun little thing on sephiroth and his odd habits. I think I may just write a series of me diving into his character and stuff like that. Maybe featuring more than just zack, we'll see. :3  
> until then :)

Sephiroth -as good as a multitasker he may be- was lost in deciphering the tiny infinitesimal ways people’s faces moved when they spoke. Rather than focusing on the words being spewed forth, he found himself fixated on how the way things were spoken and the movements that accompanied them. He’d been told on more than one occasion it was unnerving, but Genesis who was sitting in his terribly uncomfortable office chair across his desk was just something that completely ate up his attention. 

He knew he wasn’t all too great with people, but watching Genesis talk and interact and _move_ he found he was a little envious. Envious of the way he held himself with the easy confidence of being able to decipher people rather than to dissect them. He supposed he’s doing what he does best, and learning by example. 

He found his attention was doing it more and more often. Whenever Genesis or Angeal or Zack stopped by he found himself wholly consumed in just _watching_ them. Angeal was a sturdy person to mimic or at least learn from. He had a way about him that invited trust even if he didn’t do anything to particularly gain it. He supposed it was both how he carried himself and his open expression. But the open expression was vague in a way he couldn’t replicate. How does one become more open? Zack too inspired easy trust and loyalty. He was more down to earth and accessible in a way he could not be.

Zack was one of the more interesting people to watch; with his uncanny ability to talk incessantly but say nothing at all. He’d make a good Turk, albeit an unorthodox one. He found himself drawn to how just how expressive Zack was. Sephiroth himself didn’t think he could ever mimic how he interacted with people, but just watching him interact was something in itself. 

He was mesmerizing in how he could navigate other people, and how he unconsciously translated things for him when he couldn’t decipher what expression with what tone with what words meant _what exactly._ Genesis and Angeal did this too, but never in the way Zack seemed to be born to be with people. He couldn’t find himself envious when he never felt lacking when Zack picked up the slack for him. 

It wasn’t that Sephiroth was hopeless with people, it’s just that sometimes things took too long to click. He’d been forced to read up on psychology books and the like to understand how to pick people apart, but theory and practice were two seperate things. There were so many gray areas in what to think or do or say. Sephiroth know how to verbally rip apart someone with little effort, but to connect with others was something he could never get quite right. It felt clunky to him. Fitting together the correct words when he was too blunt for most. He supposed that’s why he was so good at his job. 

So he found himself watching and quietly mimicking what he could. 

He enjoyed watching Genesis and his big gestures and dramatic pitches and twisting words that seemed to be carefully woven together. He enjoyed Angeal’s quiet but no less passionate way of speaking with his heart. He enjoyed watching Zack move with calculated energy and invite easy companionship and loyalty. He even liked watching Lazard and the way his brows pinched and how he always had his fingers laced. He even liked watching Zack’s little friend and his nervous twitches from afar. 

Eventually his fascination with movements translated into the labs. He found himself paying attention to the people around him, more so than before. He realized that watching Hojo was a revolting study. He never liked the man and watching him flit around with steady hands but a face filled with something sickening did nothing to help his aversion to the visits. His face pulled wrong from other people. He supposed his own did too since the man was somewhat of his primary caregiver. With his extensive and attentive study of other people, he knew that what flitted across Hojo’s’ face was something worth paying attention to. 

—

  
  


Zack was in his apartment for some god awful reason again. He’d just finished his routine visit at the labs to find him flipping through records at his record player. It seemed that he’d stolen Sephiroth’s pants and shirt. “Hi, Sephy.” He didn’t look up from the extensive collection in his hands, but he did turn his body to where Sephiroth was standing in the living room. He was busy shedding his pauldrons and coat, and Zack tossed him a shirt to replace his coat with.

Tired after a 3-day bender of reports to be turned in before the end of the month and a routine visit on top of it made him more hyper-aware than he’d like. He thought it was a little dumb that being tired made him more aware rather than the opposite. He found himself staring at Zack’s fingers and the way he was flipping through the records. He decided on one and quickly popped it in and set the needle down. 

The music was slow, and Zack moved slowly to grab his hands. Giving him time to refuse the action. He let him take his hands even though his mind raced through all the ways he could break them. “I’d like to dance with you for a little. If that’s alright with you?” Of all the things to do; he wants to dance. 

Sephiroth mulled over the request. He wasn’t dead on his feet per se, but it was a near thing. He could also stand only so much prolonged contact -even though Zack seemed to be an exception- at a time. He didn’t want to test his patience, but having someone take the time to be with him was something he didn’t want to waste. “As long as it doesn’t include contortion.” It was yes. 

Zack came a little closer with a blinding grin on his face. He set his right hand on the small of Sephiroth’s back and held his left aloft. Sephiroth had danced before, it comes with the territory of being Genesis’ friend, but he’d never done so with Zack. Maybe Genesis finally got his metaphorical fingers into Zack and is finally trying to make him retain things better suited to a showstars life. He wouldn’t put it past him. He’d probably say he’s making sure Zack is well rounded. 

Zack quickly nudged aside his coffee table with his foot and pulled Sephiroth with him to the middle of the living room. Sephiroth found his eyes drawn to the way Zack was tapping the beat of the song on his back whilst tapping the words on his hand. He probably wasn’t conscious of doing it. He noticed that sometimes Genesis does the same thing. Being forced along to plays and watching him tap out how many steps a character was taking or on each word he’d tap a finger. 

Zack began swaying to the music, not even beginning a waltz. Just swaying with him. His grin died down to a contented quirk of his lips, but it was no less happy. They started to use the space not taken up by the table, and Sephiroth found himself focused on the shift of Zack’s weight in tandem with his own. How his hips shifted his weight and then his head was on Sephiroth’s shoulder. 

“What’cha thinking about?” Zack asked. Sephiroth was staring down at Zack’s hand that was incessantly tapping.

“I like the way you move. I find it captivating.” Zack leaned his head back and looked at Sephiroth. 

“Can you explain that to me? I know I can move like a motherfucker, but what brought that up?” Sephiroth found himself stumped. He enjoyed watching people move and be animated in any way possible. He didn’t mimic them, as copying any more jubilant tics of Genesis, Zack, or even Angeal at times would seem unnatural on him. It was just interesting to watch people interact. 

The song switched on the record. 

Sephiroth hummed. “I just like reading your movements. I find myself aware of them and you almost every time you move. The same goes for Genesis and Angeal.” Zack leaned his head back on Sephiroth’s shoulder. 

“So, you like people watching.”

“I guess that’s one way to put it, yes.”

“Makes sense. You sometimes seem to space when you watch Genesis in your office.”

“He’s a lot to look at.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.”

The song switched again, and Zack’s tapping followed the same beats. Sephiroth very slowly leaned a little to lay his cheek against Zack’s hair, a little worried he’d pull away. He didn’t. His hand on his back started drawing inane little squiggles.

“Do you move your hands on purpose?” Sephiroth asked. Zack made a humming noise in reply.

“Not all the time. I sometimes notice it, I sometimes don’t.” He squeezed their hands for emphasis. “I wasn’t conscious of it at first. Want me to stop?”

Sephiroth hummed back and leaned onto Zack a little less tentatively. “No, you’re fine.” Sephiroth lightly squeezed back and tapped some of his fingers laying on Zack’s shoulder. 

The song switched again. They kept swaying.

**Author's Note:**

> if you are so inclined im here at my twitter  
> @phalangefinger


End file.
